Pages

Friday, August 11, 2017

Audiobooks - my new adventure @SusanHayes

At the end of May, something momentous happened. Well, I thought it was pretty momentous, but I’ve been waiting for this moment for quite some time. ACX (Amazon’s audible section) opened their doors to Canadian authors. Until now, only UK and American authors had access to their narrators and process. Not anymore!

I had done my research. I’d planned. I’d prepped. I was ready. I dove in head first with a squeal of glee and got started within hours of the announcement. Even after all the prep, there was a lot of work to be done.

I spent less time picking out my wedding dress than I did going over narrator auditions. This one was too high pitched, that one was too soft spoken. What kind of accent was I looking for? Male or female narrator? In the end, the decision was easy. The moment I heard Tieran Wilder’s voice, I knew she was the one.

Having picked a narrator, the next step was to send her the script (book) and a pronunciation guide. I write sci-fi romance, with plenty of alien names, curse words, and invented language, which led to some incredibly funny email exchanges as we worked out how everything would sound.

After that, came the review of the audio files. The first sex scene I listened to, I burst out laughing. It’s one thing to write steamy scenes and know people read them. It’s quite another to have someone else read every word aloud, complete with moans, whispers, and gasps. I giggle and snickered and possibly blushed (I admit to nothing.)

It’s ten weeks later, and now I have not one, but TWO audiobooks out in the world. Both Double Down and All In are now on sale, and I’ve got Wild Card, book #3 in The Drift series ready to go for this fall.

I enjoyed audiobooks as a reader, but now that I know how much work goes into creating one, it makes listening to one much more interesting. I flew from the west coast to Ottawa last week to take part in Romancing the Capital. To entertain me on the long, long (did I mention it was long?) flights, I took several audiobooks with me. They're a great way to pass the time.

And yes, I was in Ottawa with my fellow Romance, Eh, bloggers 'Nathan, Amy, and Michelle. It was a wonderful time, and if you can make it to Ottawa next August, I strongly recommend you come and check it out!